• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.571-581
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• 2016

To understand the mechanical properties of fault rocks, data from 584 in situ and laboratory tests on fault rocks from 33 tunnels were analyzed. The unit weights of the fault rocks range from 17.3 to $28.2kN/m^3$ and the cohesion and friction angles vary from 5 to 260 kPa and $14.7^{\circ}$ to $44.0^{\circ}$, respectively. The modulus of deformation and elasticity were generally < 200 MPa. In most cases, the uniaxial compressive strength was < 0.5 MPa, and Poisson's ratios were mainly 0.20-0.35. The mechanical properties of individual rock types were analyzed using box plots, revealing that the cohesion values and friction angles of shale and phyllite have relatively wide inter-quartile ranges and that the modulus of deformation and elasticity of shale have the lowest values of all rock types. In the analysis of mechanical properties by components of fault rocks, the largest values were shown in damage zones of individual rock types.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.339-350
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• 2007

Content, swelling, concentration, drainage of clay are critical factors that could control rock failures as well as discontinuous geological structures like faults and joints. Especially, the proportional components of clay minerals can be one of few direct indicators to a rock failure caused well by rainfall. Criticality of the role of clay mineral contents gets bigger in the slope and tunnel design. This study, using a horizontal boring core of pelitic/psammitic phyllite from the OO tunnel construction site, aims to investigate mineral composition changes related to fault distribution and their mechanical effects to the activity of these discontinuous layers (i.e., clay-filled fault layers), and eventually to define correlation among rock compositions, weathering products and rock instabilities. Field survey and lab tests were carried out for the composition and strength index of fault clay minerals within the core samples and microscopic analysis of fresh and weathered rock samples.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.91-101
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• 2017

Fault materials has various properties depending on their areas, rock types, and components because they are formed by heterogeneous and complicated mechanisms. In this study, to understand the physical and mechanical properties of fault materials, 109 fault materials distributed in South Korea were collected to conduct various laboratory tests with them and analyze their physical and mechanical properties (unit weight, specific gravity, porosity, gravel content, silt/clay content, clay mineral content, friction angle, and cohesion) according to areas, rock types, and components. As for the physical and mechanical properties by rock type, gneiss shows the highest medians in the unit weight ($17.1kN/m^3$) and specific gravity (2.73), granite does so in the porosity (45.5%), schist does so in the gravel content (20.0 wt.%) and cohesion (38.1 kPa), and phyllite does so in the silt/clay content (54.4 wt.%), clay mineral content (30.1 wt.%), and friction angle ($38.2^{\circ}$). With regard to the physical and mechanical properties by component, fault gouge was shown to have lower values than cataclasite and damage zones in all factors other than porosity and silt/clay contents.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-151
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• 2013

This study is focused on element behaviors and mineral compositions of the fault rock developed in Yongdang-ri, Yangbuk-myeon, Gyeongju City, Korea, using XRF, ICP, XRD, and EPMA/BSE in order to better understand the chemical variations in fault rocks during the fault activity, with emphasis on dependence of chemical mobility on mineralogy across the fault zone. As one of the main components of the fault rocks, $SiO_2$ shows the highest content which ranges from 61.6 to 71.0%, and $Al_2O_3$ is also high as having the 10.8~15.8% range. Alkali elements such as $Na_2O$ and $K_2O$ are in the range of 0.22~4.63% and 2.02~4.89%, respectively, and $Fe_2O_3$ is 3.80~12.5%, indicating that there are significant variations within the fault rock. Based on the chemical characteristics in the fault rocks, it is evident that the fault gouge zone is depleted in $Na_2O$, $Al_2O_3$, $K_2O$, $SiO_2$, CaO, Ba and Sr, whereas enriched in $Fe_2O_3$, MgO, MnO, Zr, Hf and Rb relative to the fault breccia zone. Such chemical behaviors are closely related to the difference in the mineral compositions between breccia and gouge zones because the breccia zone consists of the rock-forming minerals including quartz and feldspar, whereas the gouge zone consists of abundant clay minerals such as illite and chlorite. The alteration of the primary minerals leading to the formation of the clay minerals in the fault zone was affected by the hydrothermal fluids involved in fault activity. Taking into account the fact that major, trace and rare earth elements were leached out from the precursor minerals, it is assumed that the element mobility was high during the first stage of the fault activity because the fracture zone is interpreted to have acted as a path of hydrothermal fluids. Moving toward the later stage of fault activity, the center of the fracture zone was transformed into the gouge zone during which the permeability in the fault zone gradually decreased with the formation of clay minerals. Consequently, elements were effectively constrained in the gouge zone mostly filled with authigenic minerals including clay minerals, characterized by the low element mobility.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.475-487
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• 2024

Many uncertainties affect the stability assessment of rock structures. Some of these factors significantly influence technology decisions. Some of these factors belong to the geological domain, and spatial uncertainty measurements are useful for structural stability analysis. This paper presents an integrated approach to study the stability of rock structures, including spatial factors. This study models two main components: discrete structures (fault zones) and well known geotechnical parameters (rock quality indicators). The geostatistical modeling criterion are used to quantify geographic uncertainty by producing simulated maps and RQD values for multiple equally likely error regions. Slope stability theorem would be demonstrated by modeling local failure zones and RQDs. The approach proided is validated and finally, the slope stability analysis method and fuzzy Laypunov criterion are applied to mining projects with limited measurement data. The goals of this paper are towards access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, promotion of inclusive and sustainable urbanization and participation, implementation of sustainable and disaster-resilient buildings, sustainable human settlement planning and manage. Simulation results of linear and nonlinear structures show that the proposed method is able to identify structural parameters and their changes due to damage and unknown excitations. Therefore, the goal is believed to achieved in the near future by the ongoing development of AI and fuzzy theory.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.85-96
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• 1998

The sericite ore is formed by the hydrothermal alteration of rhyodacitic welded tuff. The alteration zone of the host rock can be classified into four types based on the mineral assemblages ; sericite, quartz-sericite, silicified and propylite zone. The sericite ore mainly occurs as vein types and fault clay along the fault plane in the quartz-sericite zone. Mineral components of the sericite ore are mainly sericite with minor diaspore, corundum and pyrite. The sericitic porcelaineous ore is mainly composed of quartz and sericite. Accessory minerals are muscovite, diaspore, sphene, corundum, pyrite, iron-oxides and etc. The chemical compositions of K2O, Al2O3, and ignition loss in the sericite ore increase largely than that of the host rock, while the compositions of SiO2, Na2O and Fe2O3 decrease. XRD patterns of the heat-treated sericite ores show the formation of mullite at $1,200^{\circ}C$. and the diaspore-bearing sericite ore forms mullite and corundum at $1,200^{\circ}C$. The differential thermal analysis of the sericite ores show small endothermic peak at 645~668$^{\circ}C$. and the diaspore-bearing sericite ore shows a strong endothermic peak at $517^{\circ}C$. It indicates that the decomposition of diaspore appear at lower temperature than that of sericite. The thermal expansivity of the sericite ores show the similar pattern. The sericite ores show the thermal expansivity of 3.3~4.7% at 900$^{\circ}C$ and 0.39~0.75% at 1,20$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. DTA-TG curves of the sericite ores show closely relations with the thermal expansivity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.133-143
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• 2022

The catastrophic earthquake-induced failure of slopes concentrically distributed at near-fault area, which indicated the special features of near-fault ground motions, i.e. horizontal pulse-like motion and large vertical component, should have great effect on these geo-disasters. We performed shaking table tests to investigate the effect of both horizontal pulse-like motion and vertical component on dynamic response of slope. Both unidirectional (i.e., horizontal or vertical motions) and bidirectional (i.e., horizontal and vertical components) motions are applied to soft rock slope model, and acceleration at different locations is reordered. The results show that the horizontal acceleration amplification factor (AAF) increases with height. Moreover, the horizontal AAF under unidirectional horizontal pulse-like excitations is larger than that subject to ordinary motion. The vertical AAF does not show an elevation amplification effect. The seismic response of slope under different bidirectional excitations is also different: (1) The horizontal AAF is roughly constant under horizontal pulse-like excitations with and without vertical waves, but (2) the horizontal AAF under ordinary bidirectional ground motions is larger than that under unidirectional ordinary motion. Above phenomena indicate that vertical component has limited effect on seismic response when the horizontal component is pulse-like ground motion, but it can greatly enhance seismic response of slope under ordinary horizontal motion. Moreover, the vertical AAF is enhanced by horizontal motion in both horizontal pulse-like and ordinary motion. Thence, we should pay enough attention to vertical ground motion, especially its horizontal component is ordinary ground motion.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.6 s.53
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• pp.440-449
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• 2004

Rock mass includes natural discontinuities such as joints and faults during its formation. Discontinuities are also referred as planes of weakness because of their weak mechanical characteristics. In the design of underground structures, it is necessary to consider the properties of discontinuities to insure the stability. During the excavation of a tunnel, these discontinuities have to be identified as early as possible so that proper change in excavation method or support design can be made accordingly. The excavation of the tunnel in a stable rock mass causes a 3-dimensional arching effect around the excavation face. It was revealed by previous studies that the existence of a weak zone or a fault zone ahead of tunnel foe induces a typical displacement tendency of convergence. For better understanding of the meaning of influence/trend lines of various displacement components, three-dimensional numerical analyses were conducted while varying deformation moduli, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities. Numerical results showed that the changes in influence/trend lines of various displacement components were very similar to those by measurements. The discrepancies from the expected values were dependent on the physical properties, thicknesses and orientations of discontinuities.